Butterfingers
by Betwixt and In-Between
Summary: "I'm dead, aren't I?" he asks her.


The sun feels sweet on his skin, and the warm breeze curls around him like an embrace. He can hear soft chatter around him, can hear kids playing together in the distance. The grass beneath his body is soft, freshly cut; he runs his hands through it, fingering each green blade. No worries here- just peace. Thin, nimble fingers card themselves through his hair, and he can't help but smile- he's content as a cat, with those fingers gently rubbing his scalp, making him relaxed and sleepy. He could stay like this forever, he thinks distantly. And then her scent hits him, chalk and ink and the vanilla perfume he got her for her birthday when he was eleven.

Tears well beneath closed eyelids, because god, he never thought he'd smell her again, had been so upset when he had realized he couldn't remember exactly what her hugs smelt like, and now he had it back. He opens his eyes, and there, looking like an angel with the sun haloing her curly brown hair, is Mom- Mom before she got sick, healthy and glowing like a star with a gentle smile on her face.

"Hi, baby," she says, and he can't help but let out a sob, listening to her voice again, strong, not hoarse and tired from sickness. He sits up and stares at her for a moment, drinking her in and memorizing every detail that had been hazed and forgotten over time, and says, "Hi, Mom" in a delicate voice, so close to crumbling into dust. He doesn't bother to hide the tears streaming down his face.

Her smile widens, and she opens her arms to him. He doesn't hesitate to throw himself at her, wrapping his own arms around her tightly and burying his face in her neck. She hugs him back just as tightly, and whispers in his ear, "My Genim" as she strokes his back. He tells her in broken whispers of his own how much he's missed her since she's been gone, how he's trying to take care of Dad for her, like she had asked him to before she died, how he thought about her every day. And she rocks them both back and forth, soothing his tears and his hurts with loving hands. They stay like that for a while, until his tears stop and his mind clears and he realizes what's going on.

"I'm dead, aren't I?" he asks her, his voice sad and quiet. Poor Dad. Stiles doesn't think he'll be able to handle his death, not after losing his wife only a few years ago and still struggling with it. And Scott- they hadn't been as close lately what with him having a new werewolf buddy to hang with, but he was still Stiles' responsibility. Hell, the safety and well-being of the entire Pack was his responsibility now, what with him being Derek's mate now.

Derek. _I'm so sorry, Derek. I didn't mean to leave you alone, I'm so sorry. _He had already lost so much, too much- and now he was losing his mate, too. He didn't deserve this.

"Your heart stopped," another voice says from behind him. "Did you really think you could cast a banishing spell like that on the Alpha Pack and come out of it in one piece? That's some serious magic- even as powerful as you are, you needed at least another seven or eight years of practice before you could cast something like that."

Stiles turns his head to see another girl there with them. He almost didn't recognize her- the last time he saw her she had been in a hole in the ground, covered in dirt and missing half her body.

"I was desperate- the Alphas were burning Beacon Hills to the ground and killing innocent people. They were trying to kill my Pack. I had to do it- I knew I probably wouldn't make it, but I had to." He watches as something that resembles pride dances in her eyes. "You're Laura."

She gives him a devilish smile. "And you're my grumpy little brother's mate. I've gotta say, I'm not sure what Der did to deserve a clever little fox like you."

"If anyone deserves anything, it's Derek."

Laura's grin softens, and her eyes turn sad. "Yeah, you're right," she says. "That's why we're sending you back."

Hope bubbles in his chest, excitement and anticipation making his heart stutter. "You are?"

"It's not your time to rest yet," his mother says warmly. "Your dad and your Pack needs you. Your mate needs you." She tugs him in for close for one last hug. "My incredible, fantastic boy. When it's your time to go, I'll welcome you with open arms. But right now you have people who still need you back home."

"Tell Derek I say hi, okay? And tell him that you're an awesome catch and he'd better not be a butterfingers with you, or else I'm gonna serve him his ass on a platter" Laura says with a wink. She reaches out and takes a hold of one of his hands, giving it a firm squeeze. "You're his anchor, and his mate; Derek's the luckiest wolf in the world, I think. You're gonna be great, I just know it."

He squeezes her hand back, and gives her a wobbly smile as he whispers her his thanks. He turns back to his mother, who's wearing her own wobbly smile. "Be good. Take care of your dad for me, alright? I love you, Genim."

"I love you, too, Mom." And then he closes his eyes, and lets the warm winds take him back.

He had been in the middle of a vicious fight when the blue barrier swept through the forest. He had felt Stiles within the magic as passed through him, and he watched with pride as it pushed the three Alphas away from Erica, Allison, and himself. The Alphas howled in pain as the magic touched them; Derek could smell burnt skin and singed fur as they fled the oncoming storm.

"That was Stiles, wasn't it?" Erica asks in amazement. "I knew Batman would be able to pull something off!"

"He actually got rid of them," Allison adds, a huge smile worming its way onto her face. "How far do you think that thing went? He could have covered the entire town."

"I don't-" is all Derek gets out, before his chest tightens and his wolf howls painfully within him. He drops to his knees on the forest floor and claws at his heart, panic and despair spreading through him like poison. He can distantly hear the girls trying to talk to him, but all he can concentrate on is his bond to his mate.

Which is gone.

He throws his head back and lets out a ferocious, enraged roar before tearing off into the woods, heading full speed towards the Hale house, where they had left Lydia and Stiles behind. The trees blur as he passes them, branches that he doesn't have time to avoid leaving cuts on his skin, stinging his face as the scrapes bleed and seal back up. But he doesn't care- all he can think about is his mate, who was supposed to be safe behind the barrier he had put around the house's perimeter. His mate was supposed to be safe, he was supposed to be okay, and now he couldn't feel him anymore, couldn't hear his heartbeat, _please, not again, I can't lose him, too, please! _

He can hear Lydia's panicked yells as his house comes into view, and they make him run all the more faster towards them. He kicks the front door in, in too much of a hurry to unlock the door properly, and rushes to the den, following the found of Lydia's voice. Derek finds them on the floor, Lydia crying and yelling at the body she's kneeling next to as she tries to shake him awake.

"What. Happened?" he growls out as he moves to kneel next to Stiles as well. He's checking for a pulse he can't hear and looking for an explanation as Lydia sobs. "I don't know. He said he'd be okay, he said he could do it, and he- he started out okay and it looked like it worked but then he just collapsed and he's not breathing. _He said he'd be okay!_" she wails as Erica pulls her away from Stiles, wrapping the red head in her arms as she looks on in horror.

Derek brings his hands together over Stiles' motionless chest and starts pumping, trying to restart the heart, trying to bring his mate back. "Come on, Stiles, you idiot, breathe!" he yells before tilting his lover's head back, pinching his nose shut and blows air into his lungs. One breath, another; Stile's chest rises and falls, but his heart doesn't make a sound. Derek quickly starts another round of chest compressions as the others come in, their fear drenching the room. They had probably felt their Alpha's distress and came running. He doesn't see Scott and Allison clinging to each other in the corner, or Jackson coming to take Lydia from Erica as Boyd curls his arms around her and Isaac. They all look on in fear, tears swelling in their eyes and trailing down their faces. Derek's still pumping away, listening closely, hearing the boy's ribs crack as he continues to press down, but no heart beat. He tilts his head back again to breathe for his mate, and thinks _Please- please help me. Help him. Laura, help him, please!_

He listens, searches for a heartbeat.

There is non-

_Thump-thump_

The Pack gasps at the sound, and clutch at each other as they wait to see if it will happen again. Derek stares down at his mate and moves his fingers to his throat to see if he can feel-

_Thump-thump_

"Stiles? Stiles, can you hear me?" he asks his mate as he grasps his head between his hands, his thumb stroking the boys cheek shakily as he tries to get a response. For a moment there's nothing, and the hope that had snuck up on Derek slowly starts to trickle away. But then Stiles takes a breath, and his eyes slowly flutter half open. They stare at each other for a moment before Stiles asks, "Did we win?"

And like that, the tension in the room shatters. The Pack all cheer and smile and hug each other as Derek drags Stiles into his lap and holds him tightly, not even trying to hide how his body is shaking in relief. "You idiot. Never do that again. I thought I lost you."

Stiles just nuzzles his head into his boyfriend's neck and weakly clutches the material of Derek's shirt in his hand. "It's okay now- you didn't lose me. I'm right here." The only response he gets is being held tighter, and it hurts his ribs a bit, but he doesn't protest. They stay like that before he says, "Laura says hi." Derek's shaking body goes rigid, but Stiles doesn't notice. "She says that I'm awesome and that you better not be a butterfingers or she's gonna kick your ass."

Derek let's out a laughing sob and says, "I love you."

Stiles gives back a tired grin and says, "Love you, too, Sourwolf."


End file.
